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PHOTO COURTESY OF LONDON 2012

GOLD
The 46 gold medals Team USA won at the Summer Olympic Games in London included one by an NCO for record-setting marksmanship.
By JENNIFER MATTSON NCO Journal

BRINGING HOME

Juggling training for the Olympics and training Soldiers can be a tall order, but Sgt. Vincent C. Hancock did just thatand did it so well, he brought home the Olympic gold for Team USA. Hancock, who is assigned to the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning, Ga., brought home his second career Olympic gold medal after winning the mens skeet shooting event July 31 at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Representing my country on a stage like this is an opportunity to showcase our Soldier skills, Hancock said. The Army has taught me so much about dedication, to take hold of opportunities and to run with them, because as Soldiers, we have to do whatever we can to make things work. Theyve helped me progress as a husband, as a father, as an athlete and as a person. Hancock set the bar high for the next Olympics. This year, he became the first shotgun shooter to win gold at two Olympics, and he beat the record he set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, scor-

Sgt. Vincent C. Hancock shows off his gold medal July 31 after winning the mens skeet shooting event at the 2012 Olympics in London.
PHOTO BY TIM HIPPS

N C O JOURNAL

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Hancock takes aim at a target July 31 during the final round of competition. He beat the record he set in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics by scoring a 148 in London. PHOTO BY
TIM HIPPS

ing a qualifying score of 123 and a final total score of 148. London was an absolutely amazing experience, Hancock said. Being able to go to London it being my second Olympics, I knew what to expect. What Hancock said he didnt expect was all the recognition that followed his winning the gold. On Sept. 14, Hancock will meet the president at the White House along with other members of the U.S. Olympic Team. And on Labor Day weekend, Hancock will represent the Army at a NASCAR race in Atlanta. Though hes now a hero in the shooting world, Hancock almost didnt make it to this years Olympics. The middle of last year, I had thought about quitting the sport, he said. I wasnt enjoying myself anymore, and I just really didnt want to go out to competitions. I didnt have any goals set after the 2008 Olympics. I was going without a purpose. Last year, about the middle of the year, my wife sat down with me and said, 34
SEPTEMBER 2012

Look, if you arent enjoying yourself anymore, I want you to find something else. With his familys support, Hancock said he decided to give the sport his all. This is my true passion. This is my true love. This is what I want to do, Hancock said. Im going to go out there, reset goals and do my best every single time to get medals and build my legacy. In the future, I want to pass on my knowledge to youth or to anyone who wants to shoot. Rededicated to skeet shooting, Hancock said he went about his training with a newfound purpose. He trained five days a week, going to the range for three to six hours a day, he said. Being able to reset my goals, knowing what I wanted to do and having a new sense of purpose, thats what really changed my training for the Olympics. Thats what made me successful, Hancock said. The Army has helped me do that because they helped develop me as a person. They helped me mature over the last six years that Ive been in. Having something

to work for and wanting it again, thats what makes a champion. Hancock joined the Army in 2006, when the top four U.S. skeet shooters were recruited to work at the Army Marksmanship Unit. At the onset, Hancocks focus was winning medals and competing on national and global stages. Now, however, he balances his time preparing for the next competition and training troops. Mentorship is something Hancock said he enjoys, and he sees parallels in how he trains for the Olympics to what NCOs do every day. As an NCO, you have people under you who you have to watch out for, to keep safe and to make sure theyre doing the right things, Hancock said. Being on a stage as grand as the Olympics, you have to know that people are watching you and that you influence so many different people by doing the right things, setting the right example for people. After leaving the Army this November, he plans to finish his college degree and open a shooting academy in Georgia with his dad, who is also his coach. There are only a couple of things that are more important to me than going out there and competing at my best, Hancock said. And thats faith, family and friends. Of course, God is the one who has helped me get to the position Im in now, and I could never do it without Him. And having my wife here day in and day out supporting me, even though Im gone so much every month those are the differencemakers for me. Though the 2012 Olympics are over, Hancock said he remains focused on his next goal competing in the invitational World Cup Final in Slovenia this month, and in the Shotgun Selection Match for the USA Nationals in Kerrville, Texas, Oct. 19. In addition, he said he hopes to win again as a civilian on Team USA at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero. Theres always going to be someone out there whos training, whos trying to knock you off the top, Hancock said. If I keep training, I keep building. I keep learning new things. Every time I go out to the range, I try to learn something. Then I can stay ahead of everyone else whos trying to catch up to me.